1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and more particularly, to a mobile terminal and controlling method thereof. Although the present invention is suitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitable for facilitating a terminal to be used in further consideration of user's convenience.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A mobile terminal is a device which may be configured to perform various functions. Examples of such functions include data and voice communications, capturing images and video via a camera, recording audio, playing music files and outputting music via a speaker system, and displaying images and video on a display. Some terminals include additional functionality which supports game playing, while other terminals are also configured as multimedia players. More recently, mobile terminals have been configured to receive broadcast and multicast signals which permit viewing of contents, such as videos and television programs.
Generally, terminals can be classified into mobile terminals and stationary terminals according to a presence or non-presence of mobility. And, the mobile terminals can be further classified into handheld terminals and vehicle mount terminals according to availability for hand-carry.
There are ongoing efforts to support and increase the functionality of mobile terminals. Such efforts include software and hardware improvements, as well as changes and improvements in the structural components which form the mobile terminal.
Recently, a mobile terminal capable of an access point (hereinafter abbreviated AP) for providing a wireless LAN service to other devices according to IEEE 802.11 Standards has been introduced. The wireless local area network (hereinafter abbreviated WLAN) means a network environment that provides a LAN service to such an external device as a notebook computer equipped with a WLAN card using an AP device corresponding to a hub of a wire LAN. In the field of the mobile communication technology, the IEEE 802.11 technology is generally called ‘Wi-Fi’. In the following description, the terminologies ‘WLAN’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ mean the technologies based on IEEE 802.11.
Once the AP function is activated in the mobile terminal, such an external device as a notebook computer can perform a Wi-Fi access to the mobile terminal via the AP function.
In case of a general AP device, a power is supplied from a commercial power source (e.g., a wall electric outlet). Therefore, since a use of the general AP device is barely limited due to its power consumption, the necessity for the power saving is not considerable.
However, unlike the general AP device, since the mobile terminal normally needs a battery power to work instead of receiving a power from a commercial power source, the necessity for the power saving should be taken into consideration. Hence, many efforts are ongoing to be made to research and develop a method of reducing power consumption without interrupting the AP function activated in the mobile terminal.